After travelling during two parental leaves, we knew we had to take a sabbatical year living like a local in one of our favourite countries. The thought of taking a sabbatical in a foreign country can be terrifying, even more so with kids in tow, but with careful planning, it can be done!

If you are thinking about a sabbatical, these are some considerations on how to plan a family sabbatical in France.

Check your benefits at work

A first step would be to review the benefits that come with your job. While no employer is going to pay you to stop working for a year, they may allow employees to take an unpaid leave.

We were quite fortunate as our employer not only allowed unpaid leaves, they helped set aside income to pay for our sabbatical. Over four years, twenty percent of our income was set aside in trust and paid out during our leave. Not bad!

Research your budget

Living abroad without an income takes considerable savings. Budgeting your expenses is essential to making your leave a success! In our experience, most of our money went toward rent, food and travel.

To get an idea of housing costs, start by determining where you would like to live. Is there a town you like from previous trips? What activities do you want to do? Your choice of location will dictate the cost of many of your expenses. Locations in the south of France are generally quite expensive, whereas rural locations in the north are cheaper. Check out some listings for available rentals on websites such as seloger.com.

One of the main reasons we stayed in France was the food. Food prices can vary by region. You should also check some store flyers to gauge the cost of food. Restaurant menus can also give an indicator of food prices.

Depending on where you are coming from, you may need to account for the cost to convert your money into euros. We found the cheapest way to convert our money was with Wise. While exchange rates are always changing, Wise can provide a general idea of the cost to buy euros with minimal fees.

Another significant cost can be transportation. Renting a home in an urban location can save you the cost of buying or leasing a car and paying for parking. We found it much cheaper and easier to simply rent a car for the weekends!

Other costs to consider is insurance for both health and property. These expenses can be paid upfront. Take a look at insurance providers to get on-line quotes to give an idea of general costs.

And finally, leave some money aside for surprises. It will give you peace of mind to know you have some wiggle room financially for unexpected costs. For us, it was having to replace our roof to our home in Canada!

Check travel requirements

Depending on your citizenship and where you live, the requirements to stay in France can change dramatically. People with citizenship in the European Union will have a much easier time, as nearly no paperwork is needed.

For others, a visa will most likely be needed. You can check the French government’s website to review the different visas. Most people would need a tourist visa if they intend to stay in France for more than 3 months.

Plan your timing

Quite often, taking a yearlong sabbatical takes plenty of advance planning. Saving money to cover your expenses during your leave takes time. Once you have a budget, set up a plan on how to set aside enough money. How much you can save may dictate how long before you can take your sabbatical.

As previously mentioned, we saved 20 percent of our income which took us four years to save enough money to pay us 80 percent of our income. Keep in mind, shorter sabbaticals require less money and also less time to save!

Any parent knows that kids are a huge consideration to life plans. We timed our sabbatical so that our kids were at the ‘right’ age. While this perfect age is subjective, we aimed for our kids to be around 10 years old. They were old enough to appreciate the experience and do fun things, but not so old that their schooling was very important. We found that once kids reach high school age, it is very difficult to ask them to spend a year away from their friends.

While there are many things to consider before taking a sabbatical, these helpful considerations should help with planning a family sabbatical in France.

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